Like Stephen Graham and Eddie Marsden, Daniel Mays is one of those brilliant British actors we can watch in anything. So much so, that we feel like we've seen him in everything already - from Line of Duty to Lynley and more. But did you know he also starred opposite Mark Strong in a gripping crime drama called Temple? Here's what you need to know about the thrilling medical series, from where you can watch it to what it's about.
What is Temple about?
Originally created for Sky, Temple is an adaptation of a Norwegian series called Valkyrien. It follows Mark Strong as Dr. Daniel Milton, an underground surgeon who is trying to fund an illegal cure for his terminally ill wife by treating criminals, who are unable to seek traditional medical treatment for fear of police intervention.
He runs the medical clinic from a bunker beneath Temple tube station in London, and Daniel Mays plays a transport employee and his fixer caller Lee Simmons, who manages the logistics and client base of the illegal trade.
Who else stars in Temple?
As well as the aforementioned Mark Strong, who you'll recognise from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Kingsmen, and Daniel Mays, the cast includes:
- Carice van Houten from Game of Thrones and Red Light as Anna Willems, Daniel's reluctant medical researcher in his underground clinic
- Catherine McCormack from Slow Horses as Beth Milton, Daniel's wife who is suffering from a terminal illness
- Lily Newmark from Sex Education as Eve Milton, Daniel and Beth's daughter
- Tobi King Bakare as Jamie Harris, a patient treated by Daniel
- Wunmi Mosaku from Sinners as Mercy King, Jamie's mother
- Chloe Pirrie as DI Karen Hall
- Craig Parkinson as Keith Sullivan
- Ryan McKen as DI Rob Moloney
Where can you watch Temple?
Both season one and season two are available to stream on Netflix. A standard subscription to the streaming service is £5.99 a month, jumping up to £12.99 if you want to watch ad-free.
The Netflix description reads, "A London surgeon runs a black-market medical clinic under a tube station, where he treats wealthy criminals as he searches for a cure for his dying wife."
What are reviews of Temple like?
The Guardian were big fans, saying, "Last week a quite wonderful, if possessed of laughably dubious ethics drama-thriller got going deep beneath the churning streets of St Mary le Strand. The strength of Daniel Mays and Mark Strong (also invested as executive producer)... feels more urgent, more substantial [than the Norwegian original]."
The Standard said, "Temple, set in the bowels of the Underground station of that name, is a cheerful absurdity... There is a sense at first of the dramatic buffering which mars some Netflix shows. It is slow, with periodic violence. But give it time. This series has a broader canvas, and the pieces take a while to fall into place."
The Telegraph added that the show is "utterly bonkers – yet somehow brilliant" while The Times added of Daniel Mays' performance of Lee: "Mays is possibly the only British actor who could play this part and inspire a strange blend of terror and affection, even making you laugh when he shoots a cop."
We'll be watching!
